Press



Patented Feb. 15, 19271 UNITED AsnrrEs PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEsT GAUTHIER, OE CHICAGO: ILLINOIS, AssIGNOR To WESTERN ELECTRIC COM- PANY, INCORPORATED, OE NEW YORK, N. y., A CORPORATION or N-Ew YORK.

PRESS.

Applicaun mea December Y27, 1922. serial No. 609,332.

. This invention relates to presses, and more.

' particularly to presses of the type having a cankshaft and reciprocating plunger or S 1 e. 5 The primary object of the invention is to provide a press of the type having a'orankz haft and a reciprocating slide with means for indicating the amount of pressure eX- crt-ed thereby in the performance `of a given operation in punching, stamping or drawing, or otherwise working on parts made of metal or other materials. A still further object is to provide, in a press, a-novel and improved arrangement of extremely simple design, whereby suitable pressure indicating devices ma be attached to, and operated by the press Itself, during Vthe performance of its ordinary duties.

Withthese and Other objects in view, as will more fully appear as the description roceeds, this invention :furthermore consists 1n certain novel and improved constructions and arrangements of parts, as will hereafter be fully 'described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The determination of the amount of pressure required to perform a given piece of work by means of a punching or stamping press 1s a matter of considerable importance, and in certain .cases of extreme importance to the manufacturer and to the designer. The field of this class of machinery, however, is so vast, and its range o foperations so3 diversified, that it is practicall impossible to determine this factor by ca culatlon, except in a minority of instances. The elements to be considered in an accurate calculation are furthermore so many, and often so apt to have to be estimated with-only a distant approximation, and' the calculations themselves, while producing results which are often unreliable, require so much time and care, that in general the rule4 of thumb is applied in current practice, and the guidance of calculations prior toy determining -the thickness and structure ofthe metal to be used, the press to be employed, and the type of tools best suited for the work, utterly neglected. The results of this blind method of r0- cedure are, of course, detrimental to pro ucf tion, inasmuch es eases. e machine yother types of machines closely like for instance wire forming machines,

however, an .elementary always resides in the combined action of,

members against each other. and forming operations, said pressure must 100'- rint, .such 'as determined 'i too small for the vWork may be employed,-

and in a larger number of cases a too large one maybe utilized which might be more `-etliciently used in heavier duties.

It 1s obvious that a means for permitting a rapidand reliable determinatlon of the amount of pressure required to perform a given operation, greatly simplifies the problems connected with the use 0f presses 'generally, enabling the operator to distribute the .work to his diffrent machines according to their various capacities, with complete elimination of uncertainty and guess-work, and enabling the operator to a'djusthis ma? chines to the pressure required, when means of pressurev adjustment are provided.

Press work of all descriptions is always produced by means of tools comprising a die, or female member, and a punch, or male member, the Ipunch being enerally carried by the plunger or slide, wich is the movable part of the machine, while the die is mounted on the bed plate or stationary part.

The plunger is capable Aof reciprocating the Vpunch against the die and -is transmitted by each member to therespective holders'. In some types of presses, both members are caused to move simultaneously against or away from each other while in allied thereto,

' motion, moving the punch towards and away various tools may be operated simultaneously or in succession, by a plurality ofholdersv or slides.

No matter what type of control is used,

the two members of Whichthe tool is composedon the material out of which the work is produced; and said operation invariably takes place through the exertion of ressure by one member against theother, or y be suficient Vfor thematerial' to acquire a given form lor im by the design of t e punch and d ie, and in punchingI and shearing and b operatives, s ald pressure must besuclent tor the press operation both. In stamping- Amaterial to be shearedor cut according to a predetermined outline also controlled by the tools used.

My improved means of determining they amount of pressure thus required consists essentially in interposing suitable means between one of the tool holders and the otherparts ofthe machine to which the pressure of the same is transmitted., capable of operf ance' of the work will be transmitted by the tool holder through the medium of said interposed means, which will at the same time cause the operation of the pressure indicating means. A direct and exact reading may thus be obtained in each case, giving an immediate'and reliable basis on which .to regulate the work.

l In practice, the device may be applied to onepress which serves as a master press.: A

` given piece of work is performed by -the master press, and the amount of pressure necessary in the operation noted. The work.` lis then distributed to the presses in the department which'are bestsuited therefor, or 'else the presses are adjusted in accordance with the pressure required.

Such a means of determining the pressure vnecessary to perform any given piece of work lis also open to'extensive application 1n testing punches and dies and also the physical properties of various materials, and

1n making comparative tests of pressures re quired by different thicknesses of the same material.

The scope of my invention is not to be' limited'by the nature of the` medium selected in order to carry the same-into practice, or

- by the details of the mechanical arrangements adopted, or by the nature of the indi'-- veating means used. It is well known thatL pressure indicating gauges of various Adescriptions may be operated by the act-ionof a spring, or by the action of a fluid, or by the actlon of someotherr suitable agent, and the selection of a proper medium and of a suit-I ableworking arrangement thereof, will be. subject to considerations of vconditions affecting various cases.

In the accompan ing drawing which illustrates one `embo ent of the invention, Fig. 1 is 'a front view inelevation of the.

upper part of a -pressto which said embodiment ofthe invention has beenV applied; and, Fig 2 .fragmentary detail front view in elevation, partly sectioned, and on. a larger scale, illustrating the manner in whlch the invention is carried into practice in the arr'angement shown inFig. 1.

In the machine shown inthe drawings,

which is of a well known type where the plunger orslide is attached to its connection by means of a ball and socket joint,rmy invention is applied byinserting the pressure gauge operating medium between the plunger and its connection, and more particularly,

by providing 4a fluid cushion lbetween said two parts.

Referring to lthe drawings in detail, 1Q' designates the body oft-he machine 10 the stationary bed. plate thereof, 11 its crankshaft carrying a flywheel 12, 13 the adjustable connection between said crankshaft and the plunger'or slide 14, and 15 the ball end of said connection.

The attachment between the ball end 15 of the connection and the plunger, is effected j by means of an adjustable socket constituted of two parts 16, 17, whichA are machined tol l by means of a nut 20, securedby a check nut 21. The relative adjustment of said nut and check nut, furthermore permits a veryA minute .adjustment of lthe pressure with whicli ball 15 is maintained betweenparts 16 l il pressure gauge 22, of any suitable type isconnected by means of a iieXible hose 23.

or other suitable medium, to a tubular open-v ing 24 made through the wall of the plunger, leadingv from the exterior to the lower part of chamber 19. A small quantity of liqui'd 25 is introduced Within. said chamber, and the position of socket parts 16, 17, adjusted accordingly thy means of nut 20 and check nut 21, so that there will be no play between the lower part 16 and t-he liquid cushion thus formed.

Upon the plunger to perform a given piece of work, the pressure developed will be exerted between the plunger and part 17 through thc medium of Huid 25; which lunder said ressure will cause corrcspondingindica-tions to appear on the dial ofthe gauge 22 connectedthereto.

Said gauge may bent/any suitable type,

being made to descend' registering, or non registering, although it,"

may be easier to detect the maximum pressure reached, if the gauge is 4provided with means for vregistering the same.

plunger. It 'is A washer 26 secured to the plunger part 17 i prevents the lfluid. 25 from leaking past the toy be understood that the Inature .of I

The chief advantage achieved by the mech-' anism above described, is of course the elimination of guess work in the operation of presses, and the ease with which reliable and definite data may be obtained in a practically unlimited variety of cases; and its chiel' feature is that the data thus procured are obtained directly through the performance of the individual operations themselves, in the ordina-ry manner.

The improved mechanism'above described, however, is open, as stated above, to

an endless variety of applications less directly related to specific manufacturingproblems, although quite as important; providing, as it does, means of an absolutely reliable nature, and of easy application, .whereby some physical properties of various materials may bedetermined, which entailed heretofore the employment of lengthy and costly methods, producing less dependable results.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a press having a crankshaft and reciprocating slide, means connecting lsaid crankshaft and slide, of a pressure indicating means, and 4means intervposed in said connecting means Aand controlling the operation of said pressure indicating means.

2. The combination with al press having a crankshaft and a reciprocating element actii- ,ated thereby, of resosure indicating means, a

-body of fluid de ormable by an operation of said reciprocating element, and means connecting said fluid'with the pressure indicating means. A

3. The combination' with a press having a crankshaft, a tool holder, and a member shaft, of a pressure gauge, and means inter;v posed between said tool holder and said connecting member controlling the operation of said gauge.

ating said ga and said tool holder.

v. 4., .combination with a press having a cra shaft, a tool holder having a cavity,

and a member connecting said tool holder to said crankshaft, of a pressure gauge, anda body of liquid disposed in saidcavity and connected to said gauge, saidliquid inter posed between said tool holder and said connectin member and controlling the operation o said gauge.

5. The combination with a press having a crankshaft, a tool holder provided with a cavity, a member adjustable therein, a connection between said member and said crankshaft, permitting motionof said tool holder. rela-tive to said member in a direction oppo- 4sifxI .to that of the working stroke, of a pressure gauge, and a' body of liquid filling the space in said cavity between said member, and said tool 6. The combination with a press having a crankshaft, a tool holder provided with a cavity, a ball socket movable therein, means for adjusting and retaining said ball socket in position, a member provided with a ballE shaped end connecting said ball socket to said crankshaft, of a pressure gauge, and'a body of liquid connected thereto fillingtlie space in said cavity between said ball socket 7 The combination with'a press having a crankshaft and plunger actuated thereby of a. pressure gauge, and a body of liquid conholder connected to and oper-,

tained within saidplunger adapted to bel I subjected to4 thev pressure,v exerted thereby,

i and a `flexible connection between said body of liquid and said pressure gauge.

8. The combination. with a ower actuatedo press having an actuating e ement, a tool holder and a member connecting said tool holder to `said actuating element, of aPlessure :gauge and means interposed between said tool holder and said connecting mem- In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this'27- day of November A. D., 1922. f-

ERNEST GAUTHIER.

4ber vcontrolling the operation of said gauge. connecting said tool holder to said crank- 

